WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors recognizes that when public safety officials
representing different disciplines and jurisdictions converge onto a single scene, they must
be able to share information quickly; and

WHEREAS, local police departments, fire departments and emergency medical teams
are usually the first responders to an emergency; and

WHEREAS, these first responders are under increasing pressures from both natural
disasters and terrorist threats; and

WHEREAS, it has been recognized for years that first responders often do not have the
tools to communicate effectively in an emergency, both to their colleagues inside their
organization and to other departments and agencies; and

WHEREAS, this lack of interoperability between agencies can severely hinder public-safety officials in providing a coordinated response to critical incidents; and

WHEREAS, the 800 MHZ band is notorious for interference problems between public
safety spectrum and commercial users; and

WHEREAS, the current 800 MHZ band is insufficient to meet increasing voice and data
needs and will not meet future needs under projected population growth and demographic
changes; and

WHEREAS, there is 24 MHZ of spectrum set aside for public safety use in the 700 MHZ
band as part of television broadcasters' transition to digital television; and

WHEREAS, the replacement cost of the aging public safety wireless infrastructure is more
than $18 billion; and

WHEREAS, the cost of public safety radio infrastructure and equipment is a tremendous
burden on local governments,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges that
the 24 MHZ of spectrum in the 700 MHZ band be made available for local public safety
uses as quickly as possible; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors requests that the
federal government assists local governments with the tremendous cost of outfitting public
safety agencies with communications hardware that facilitates interoperable
communications between a variety of agencies.